Forum being held to discuss concerns with budget for Hampton schools

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Hampton, Va. - A forum is being held Monday at 7 p.m. at Bethel A.M.E. Church at 94 Lincoln St. to address concerns people have with the Hampton school system’s budget for the upcoming year.

While saw some employees saw cuts, some leaders received raises.

"It was bad timing. Bad timing and bad judgement," said Gaylene Kanoyton, president of the Hampton chapter of the NAACP, which is hosting Monday's forum.

She says the raises are causing outrage among some in the community, but according to a school spokesperson, there's more to it.

Diana Gulotta with Hampton Public Schools says the raises stem from a principal's promotion to the school system's executive team.

The standard increase he got, ended up making his salary higher than others in similar positions with more experience.

To make up for that the school gave raises to three people. It's what they call an equity adjustment.

A fourth person also received a raise because her job responsibilities changed, according to Gulotta.

Between the four people, the raises totaled about $30,000.

Gulotta says it came from money they saved when people who had previously held some of those positions retired at higher pay levels.

Kanoyton says it's still a sore spot, though. The custodial staff was outsourced because of budget cuts which means they're now making less, and teachers did not get a raise this year.

"They're just outraged and upset," said Kanoyton.

Teachers received a two percent increase last year. Before that, the last substanial increase was in 2008. Below, you can see a full list of the raises they have received since 2005.

"At some point you have to have fiscal responsibility," Kanoyton said, "If you keep doing equity adjustment on top of equity adjustment, there's going to be a shortfall somewhere else. There need to be clear answers."

Here's a look at the raises given to principals and teachers since 2005, according to Hampton schools.

School Year Principals Teacher Scale Others

05-06 4% 7% 4%

06-07 7% 7% 5%

07-08 4% 4% 4%

08-09 4% 4% 4%

9-10 0 0 0

*10-11 0 0 0 (*Division Leadership Team took at 1.6% pay cut; school board took 3% pay cut; in December 2010, Division was able to give a $500 bonus to full-time; and a $300 bonus to part-time employees)